1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Wedding Band. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
Wedding Band takes place in 1918, in the summertime on a Saturday morning nearby the sea in South Carolina. There is a yard with three houses. The houses belong to three black women, Mattie and her daughter, Lula, and Julia who moved in recently and lives in the middle house. Their landlady Fanny lives nearby. Julia has recently moved in after moving around everywhere for 10 years. This is because of her boyfriend Herman who is a white German man. Herman and Julia's relationship is illegal due to the discrimination of black people in their time period. The other people involved are Princess, a white girl who is Teeta’s friend, Nelson, Lula's son who is in the military Bell Man, a white man who Julia dislikes; Annabelle, Herman's sister and Herman's mom. At the beginning of the play, Julia thinks her neighbors already know she is with Herman and they judge her for it, but they actually don’t know until she tells them. The dramatic situation of the play is that it is WWI and men are fighting the war, and also they must keep their relationship a secret because it is a dangerous time for them to be together. In 1918, it was also the influenza flu, and many people died from that.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students.
The intrusion is when Herman becomes ill with the flu at the end of the first act. Before this, there wasn’t much action going on. After Herman falls ill, his mother and sister called in and there are a lot of tensions that arise with Julia because of this. Their relationship is put to the test because his family yells and her and his mom tells Herman he should have never gotten with her. Julia realizes that if this is what white people think about her, she has to accept herself as a black woman in the south. finally admits to herself that her relationship with Herman will never be able to truly last and she finally begins to accept their fate as well as her identity as an African-American woman living in the South. She and Herman end up understanding each other’s love as she takes care of him before he might die.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The unique factor is that Julia moves into her new home and meets her new neighbors as Teeta is searching for the quarter she lost. This is also when Herman comes to visit for their 10-year anniversary and gives her gifts such as a wedding band to celebrate their relationship.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Julia and Herman be able to stay together in their relationship during this time period where black hatred, WWI, and the influenza are going on? By the end of the play, the dramatic question is answered because Herman’s death is a symbol to the fact that their love couldn’t persist beyond all the hate with their family and society. But Julia states that their love can last right in the end and even though he might die, in their hearts it will be remembered.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play.
The conflict with Julia’s inner self is the final scene about her identity as Black woman in the South. Throughout the play, she thinks about living in New York or Philadelphia where she believes she can live a happy and complete life with Herman. But later, she realizes that she should stay as a black woman in the south. Maybe someday in the future, she will have a good relationship with Herman as interracial relationships will become more common. The conflict that Julia faces with society is that she wants a relationship with a white man that she ultimately comes to realize is farfetched. At the time, marrying between races was banned by the law. Julia fights with Herman’s mom pretty hard and it reflects the idea that she shouldn’t have been with him. In general, society does not approve a black woman having a relationship with a white man.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band.
The most theatrical moment is when Herman falls ill with the flu. The stage directions show that he staggers out the porch and slides and falls. These are dramatic actions that draw attention to him suddenly getting the flu even though right before, they were supposed to be happy celebrating their ten-year anniversary. His stuttering shows that he is not okay as compared to his usually nicely formed tone and speech.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
An example of an image is the quarter that is lost by Teeta at the beginning of the play. The quarter is an image that shows Mattie is poor and like many African American people, they lived in near poverty and had to look after the little wealth they had. Mattie gets really mad when her daughter loses the quarter. Julia offers money to Teeta though, and it shows that she has good intentions and is genuinely a good person. The image of the wedding band is also an important image. The wedding band is given to Julia by Herman as a present. She wears it on a chain around her neck because she can’t wear it on her fingers because she cannot be married to a white man. The sign made by Annabelle and Herman's mother that reads: "WE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS" in red, white, and blue is another image that is important. The sign is placed in the window of their house after people paint “Germans Live here" in purple across the side of their house. During World War I Americans saw the Germans negatively. Even though Herman’s family is white, they still are not “normal” in the white community and also face problems in society as well.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band.
Some themes include marriage, racism, religion, poverty, and love. Poverty plays a role in the supporting characters because of the quarter that Mattie gets upset about with Teeta. They depend on October to send money and suffer because they aren’t officially married. Herman is also poor for being a baker and his mom is upset about it. Marriage plays a big part in the play; Julia wants to marry but she just cannot do it legally and it causes her distress because being a black woman is important to her self-identity. Herman and have been living out of wedlock for 10 years.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think?
Family relationships are explored through the many relationships seen in this play. The relationship between Julia and Herman is seen. They love each other and want to be together for a long time. However, during the early 20th century, they were not married because of the law. This exemplifies that love has no boundaries, and they can be together no matter what, even if it is out of wedlock. Mattie and her relationship with October shows that they also are not legally married because of her divorce with a man earlier. They love each other too and once again, show that love has no boundaries in terms of legality. On the contrasting side, Herman, his mom, and Annabelle, have a bad relationship in the play even though are they are actual family. All this shows is that love doesn’t have to be defined in a certain structure, and it can be expressed in any way that creates happiness.
Wedding Band takes place in 1918, in the summertime on a Saturday morning nearby the sea in South Carolina. There is a yard with three houses. The houses belong to three black women, Mattie and her daughter, Lula, and Julia who moved in recently and lives in the middle house. Their landlady Fanny lives nearby. Julia has recently moved in after moving around everywhere for 10 years. This is because of her boyfriend Herman who is a white German man. Herman and Julia's relationship is illegal due to the discrimination of black people in their time period. The other people involved are Princess, a white girl who is Teeta’s friend, Nelson, Lula's son who is in the military Bell Man, a white man who Julia dislikes; Annabelle, Herman's sister and Herman's mom. At the beginning of the play, Julia thinks her neighbors already know she is with Herman and they judge her for it, but they actually don’t know until she tells them. The dramatic situation of the play is that it is WWI and men are fighting the war, and also they must keep their relationship a secret because it is a dangerous time for them to be together. In 1918, it was also the influenza flu, and many people died from that.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students.
The intrusion is when Herman becomes ill with the flu at the end of the first act. Before this, there wasn’t much action going on. After Herman falls ill, his mother and sister called in and there are a lot of tensions that arise with Julia because of this. Their relationship is put to the test because his family yells and her and his mom tells Herman he should have never gotten with her. Julia realizes that if this is what white people think about her, she has to accept herself as a black woman in the south. finally admits to herself that her relationship with Herman will never be able to truly last and she finally begins to accept their fate as well as her identity as an African-American woman living in the South. She and Herman end up understanding each other’s love as she takes care of him before he might die.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The unique factor is that Julia moves into her new home and meets her new neighbors as Teeta is searching for the quarter she lost. This is also when Herman comes to visit for their 10-year anniversary and gives her gifts such as a wedding band to celebrate their relationship.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Julia and Herman be able to stay together in their relationship during this time period where black hatred, WWI, and the influenza are going on? By the end of the play, the dramatic question is answered because Herman’s death is a symbol to the fact that their love couldn’t persist beyond all the hate with their family and society. But Julia states that their love can last right in the end and even though he might die, in their hearts it will be remembered.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play.
The conflict with Julia’s inner self is the final scene about her identity as Black woman in the South. Throughout the play, she thinks about living in New York or Philadelphia where she believes she can live a happy and complete life with Herman. But later, she realizes that she should stay as a black woman in the south. Maybe someday in the future, she will have a good relationship with Herman as interracial relationships will become more common. The conflict that Julia faces with society is that she wants a relationship with a white man that she ultimately comes to realize is farfetched. At the time, marrying between races was banned by the law. Julia fights with Herman’s mom pretty hard and it reflects the idea that she shouldn’t have been with him. In general, society does not approve a black woman having a relationship with a white man.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band.
The most theatrical moment is when Herman falls ill with the flu. The stage directions show that he staggers out the porch and slides and falls. These are dramatic actions that draw attention to him suddenly getting the flu even though right before, they were supposed to be happy celebrating their ten-year anniversary. His stuttering shows that he is not okay as compared to his usually nicely formed tone and speech.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
An example of an image is the quarter that is lost by Teeta at the beginning of the play. The quarter is an image that shows Mattie is poor and like many African American people, they lived in near poverty and had to look after the little wealth they had. Mattie gets really mad when her daughter loses the quarter. Julia offers money to Teeta though, and it shows that she has good intentions and is genuinely a good person. The image of the wedding band is also an important image. The wedding band is given to Julia by Herman as a present. She wears it on a chain around her neck because she can’t wear it on her fingers because she cannot be married to a white man. The sign made by Annabelle and Herman's mother that reads: "WE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS" in red, white, and blue is another image that is important. The sign is placed in the window of their house after people paint “Germans Live here" in purple across the side of their house. During World War I Americans saw the Germans negatively. Even though Herman’s family is white, they still are not “normal” in the white community and also face problems in society as well.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band.
Some themes include marriage, racism, religion, poverty, and love. Poverty plays a role in the supporting characters because of the quarter that Mattie gets upset about with Teeta. They depend on October to send money and suffer because they aren’t officially married. Herman is also poor for being a baker and his mom is upset about it. Marriage plays a big part in the play; Julia wants to marry but she just cannot do it legally and it causes her distress because being a black woman is important to her self-identity. Herman and have been living out of wedlock for 10 years.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think?
Family relationships are explored through the many relationships seen in this play. The relationship between Julia and Herman is seen. They love each other and want to be together for a long time. However, during the early 20th century, they were not married because of the law. This exemplifies that love has no boundaries, and they can be together no matter what, even if it is out of wedlock. Mattie and her relationship with October shows that they also are not legally married because of her divorce with a man earlier. They love each other too and once again, show that love has no boundaries in terms of legality. On the contrasting side, Herman, his mom, and Annabelle, have a bad relationship in the play even though are they are actual family. All this shows is that love doesn’t have to be defined in a certain structure, and it can be expressed in any way that creates happiness.